. >> all right, ben. in jerusalem this morning. thanks. >>> coming up later, soledad will be speaking to israel's deputy foreign minister. that's in our 7:00 hour. >>> here at home, president obama will have the four top leaders of congress over to the white house today to begin talks on avoiding the fiscal cliff, which could plunge the u.s. economy back into a recession. both side say there is room for compromise, but at the same time, it appears democrats and republicans may have dug in on their long-held positions concerning tax hikes and spending cuts. jill doherty is in our washington bureau. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> jill, both sides have said they are optimistic about a deal here. they're also not budging on some key issues. >> yeah, i mean, there is some room around the edges, but essentially, and this is the the opening gambit, of course. they're both talking about taxes. the president saying -- and revenue. the president saying that he wants more revenue from the wealthiest americans and the republicans and